The Devil Makes Three Stranger

Can indie music and bluegrass co-exist? Do "indie" music listeners denounce knee-slappin and banjo-pickin? If we take "indie" in the literal sense, "independent," then absolutely, bluegrass should damn well fit within the paradigm of indie music, so long as it's some quality tunage that hasn't been widely proclaimed. All that said, the Devil Makes Three isn't your prototypical bluegrass band. Many a folk have told me that this band turned them on to bluegrass. Others have said that it shouldn't be considered bluegrass at all. I'm gonna go ahead and call it genre transcending.

I know what you're thinking and don't worry, this sounds nothing like country. It's more of a rustic, dusty, bluesy scenario than what you might be used to. The song writing is absolutely fantastic, especially the lyrics. On this album (their first), there exists a very abstract piratey feel reminscent of Rain Dogs by the great Tom Waits. The opening track refers to Neptune's kingdom, walking the plank, Davey Jone's Locker, and even mermaids! Besides the aquatic themes (no Johnny Depp here, sorry ladies), there's also an old cowboy western feel to many of the songs, best exampled by my favorite track, "The Bullet" (above).

Well he never ever smiled

But he always seemed pleased

Said I'll never live down upon my bended knees

I see the game and the game it sees me

We will dance until they bury me

I will rise like the ashes from a building as it burns

Screaming all my enemies you'll all have your turn

The more pain I feel, the less that it hurts

The more I move on the more I am sure

That I will rob 'til my fingers they are down to the bone

Wander 'til I can't remember my own home

Drink 'til I don't know the meaning of alone

'Til that bullet flies to carry me home

How's that for music to live by?

And if that doesn't suit your fancy, the whiskey song certainly will! Try it out:

[audio:https://www.indieshuffle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/06-Old-Number-Seven.mp3|titles=The Devil Makes Three- Old Number Seven]

The Devil Makes Three have been setting the San Francisco Bay Area ablaze with their hyper driven version of old-time music. The trio's sound combines bluegrass, primitive country music, folk, rockabilly, Piedmont blues, and ragtime, played with a blazing post-punk attack. They don't have a drummer, but when Cooper McBean's percussive rhythm guitar accents and Lucia Turino's crackling slap-hand bass kick in, they supply a pounding four on the floor that drives the band as hard as any drummer might. The Devil Makes Three inhabit a hardscrabble working-class world full of problem drinkers, tellers of tall tales, pirates, and troublemakers, but they deliver their desperate parables with a charming deadpan wit. "The Plank" is rollicking sea shanty that has the bandmembers watching their enemies walk the plank. - All Music Guide